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2014 Annual Science Report

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Reporting  |  SEP 2013 – DEC 2014

Laboratory Investigations Into Chemical Evolution in Icy Solids From the Interstellar Medium to the Outer Solar System to Meteorites

Project Summary

NAI-GCA support in 2014 helped us continue our work on amino-acid stability. In 2014, we performed radiation experiments to measure the destruction rate of glycine in CO2 ice. In particular, we found that this rate depends on concentration and temperature, and is 20-40 times greater than for glycine in H2O-ice.

4 Institutions
3 Teams
3 Publications
0 Field Sites
Field Sites

Project Progress

NAI-GCA support in 2014 helped us continue our work on amino-acid stability. In 2014, we performed radiation experiments to measure the destruction rate of glycine in CO2 ice. In particular, we found that this rate depends on concentration and temperature, and is 20-40 times greater than for glycine in H2O-ice. These results imply that glycine at a subsurface depth of 5-10 meters embedded in CO2-ice on Mars would not survive more than 100 million years, but could survive for 2-4 Gyr if stored in H2O-ice. This work recently was accepted for publication in Icarus.

In addition to our glycine project, we also have extended last year’s IR study of optical constants and band strengths of ices, this time for the three C2 hydrocarbons (C2H2, C2H4, C2H6) as part of our interest in the carbon inventory of the outer Solar System.

In a collaboration with the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory we have initiated a new project designed to understand heterocycle chemistry in meteorites. Our first molecular targets are nicotinic acid and its isomers. A related paper has been published and a second is in preparation for an early 2015 submission.

Destruction Rate Constant for Glycine
Left: Destruction rate constant for glycine in CO2-ice and H2O-ice vs. the sample's initial concentration.

Surviving Fraction of Glycine
Right: Surviving fraction of glycine in CO2-ice as a function of dose and of time at a 1-meter depth on Mars. Comparison data for glycine in H2O-ice are shown along the top. The radiation unit of megagray (MGy) corresponds to the absorption of 106 Joule of energy absorbed per kilogram of material. Note that an initial CO2:gly ratio of, for example, 380 corresponds to 380 molecules of CO2 per 1 molecule of glycine.

Publications

  • Hudson, R. L., Ferrante, R. F., & Moore, M. H. (2014). Infrared spectra and optical constants of astronomical ices: I. Amorphous and crystalline acetylene. Icarus, 228, 276–287. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.08.029

  • Hudson, R. L., Gerakines, P. A., & Moore, M. H. (2014). Infrared spectra and optical constants of astronomical ices: II. Ethane and ethylene. Icarus, 243, 148–157. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.09.001

  • Smith, K. E., Callahan, M. P., Gerakines, P. A., Dworkin, J. P., & House, C. H. (2014). Investigation of pyridine carboxylic acids in CM2 carbonaceous chondrites: Potential precursor molecules for ancient coenzymes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 136, 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2014.04.001

  • PROJECT INVESTIGATORS:
  • PROJECT MEMBERS:
    Reggie Hudson
    Project Investigator

    Perry Gerakines
    Collaborator

    Mark Loeffler
    Collaborator

    Marla Moore
    Collaborator

    Karen Smith
    Collaborator

  • RELATED OBJECTIVES:
    Objective 2.1
    Mars exploration.

    Objective 2.2
    Outer Solar System exploration

    Objective 3.1
    Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts

    Objective 7.1
    Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials

    Objective 7.2
    Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems